Aer Lingus

I have posted previous comments on Aer Lingus lounges but nothing prepared me for the filthy tip that is Chicago Gold Circle lounge. Its tiny dirty furniture all stained ceiling was all stained. Drinks okay no food not even a cracker. I don't normally fly biz class with EI and judging by the reviews and the state of the lounges I never will.

I got to use the Aer Lingus lounge as I was flying on Icelandair. This has got to be the pokiest grubbiest lounge I have ever seen or used. The food was soggy and not fresh and the decor is not very good. Gives a feeling of boredom and gloom. Aer Lingus needs to brighten this lounge up a lot. The lady there was nice and friendly - she was the best part about this lounge.

This lounge has so much potential - it's bright clean and offers sweeping views of the airfield. However the desk staff can range from super-friendly (letting me bring my kids in sometimes) to totally indifferent (too busy gossiping with colleagues to say hello). There is a good range of drinks on offer but food is poor and is restricted to bags of twiglets (does anyone actually like them??!) and crackers with Durch cheese (so much for strong Irish brand identity which Aer Lingus supposedly prides itself on). Plus there is a charge for internet usage which is a shame.

Very basic but better than filthy overcrowded terminal. Food choice limited to biscuits and packaged cheddar cheese. Good selection of drinks - alcoholic and non. Staff friendly to indifferent depending on when you visit. Washrooms outside lounge - shared with other lounges and filthy.

Excellent lounge with good selection of food drink and newspapers. Wifi access etc. I suspect that the high standards are not down to Aer Lingus as the lounge is shared with a number of major international airlines. I say this because the Aer Lingus exclusive lounges at Dublin (home base) and London Heathrow are extremely poor by comparison. Their lounges at Chicago O'Hare and Boston are amongst the worse I have ever encountered.

Everyone agrees that this lounge beats sitting in the awful "tube" outside but that's about it. Aer Lingus you need to incorporate free WiFi some food e.g sandwiches or whatever and get some toilets in there. This is as another user points out barely worth the trouble of keeping up Gold Circle Membership for.